Needle for baler



April 26, 1966 c. D. GHOLSON 3,247,780

NEEDLE FOR BALER Filed Dec. 6, 1963 United States Patent 3,247,780 NEEDLE FGR BALER Cary D. Gholson, Memphis, Tenn, assignor to International Harvester Company, Chicago, lllL, a corporation of New Jersey Filed Dec. 6, 1963, er.'No. 323,590 2 Claims. (Cl. mil-24) This invention is a new and useful improvement of a needle for a baler. More particularly, the improvement comprises a retainer for holding slack wire in the wire slot of a baler needle as the needle moves on its return stroke.

One ditficulty with hay balers using wire as the binding material is that on the return stroke of the baler needle to its home position, the wire bulges out of the wire slot in the needle and becomes entangled in other parts of the baler. As a result, the baler has to be shut down while the tangled wire is removed.

The wire bulging is believed to be caused by the slack wire that builds up in the needle slot on the delivery stroke of the needle. When the needle is on its delivery stroke, slack in the wire is prevented because the force used in pulling wire off of the coil keeps the wire taut. But when the needle makes its return stroke, it moves back towards the coil of wire, thereby releasing the tension on the wire and allowing the slack to get out of control. The excess wire then bulges out of the wire slot in the needle and becomes entangled in the baler mechanism (e.g. the packer fingers or the plunger). I

The chief object of this invention is, therefore, to provide a hay baler needle having a retainer for controlling the slack in the baling wire on the return stroke of the needle.

A particular object of this invention is to provide a series of lugs in the wire slot of a baler needle so as to confine slack wire inside the wire slot on the return stroke of the needle.

A baler needle embodying the novel wire retainer is shown in the drawings, where:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a baler needle, showing the general location of the wire retainer lugs on the needle;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1, showing the staggered arrangement of the lugs along the needle; and

FIG. 3 is a cross section through the needle taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 1, showing the position of the wire retainer lugs with respect to the bottom of the wire slot.

The novel baler needle comprises an arcuate body having a U-shaped cross section, a set of rollers 11 and 12 forming an eye 13 for passage of the baling wire, a row of lugs 14 pressed out of the body material to form the novel wire retainer, and a split bearing 15 for attaching the needle to the base pipe of a hay baler, such as that shown in US. Patent No. 2,897,747.

Needle body 10 is made by folding a sheet of material or angle iron into a U-shape (see FIG. 3). The hollow of the U serves as a wire passageway or slot 17, a wire 18 being shown therein in normal operating position. At one end of the body 10, the bottom of the U is removed, leaving two sides of the U to support rollers 11 and 12. The space between the rollers forms the wire eye 13 for feeding wire to the baler. The other end of body 10 has attached thereto a bearing bracket 16 carry- 3,247,780 Patented Apr. 26, 1966 ing the split bearing 15, which mates with a baler base pipe.

The novel wire retainer comprises a plurality of pro tuberances or lugs 14 formed along the edges of body 10 adjacent eye 13 by stamping or otherwise. In the completed needle body, the lugs 14 are, therefore, located at the mouth of the U, thereby providing a deep Wire slot, Any two consecutive lugs 14 are located on opposite sides of the needle body 10 (see FIG. 2). In the form shown, lugs 14 project into slot 17 past the centerline thereof, to produce a tortuous opening through which slack wire is unable to pass.

While only one species of the novel baler needle is shown, the underlying concept of the invention can be expressed in other forms as well. For example, in lieu of the integral stamped lugs shown, separate pin-s or buttons may be attached to the walls of the wire slot. Also, the lugs can just as well project from one wall of the wire slot, so long as the space between the wall and the ends of the lugs is less than the diameter of the baling wire. It is intended, therefore, that the claims appearing below cover these and all other obvious variations as well as the species illustrated.

The invention claimed is:

1. A needle for a baler, comprising: an elongated, arcuate needle body having a U-shaped cross section, said U-shaped opening forming a wire passageway, a series of rigid wire retainer elements formed in the sides of said passageway, said retainer elements comprising protuberances in the surface of said passageway, the consecutive retainer elements of said series being located on opposite sides of said passageway and projecting thereinto past the centerline of said passageway, a pair of rollers at one end of said body forming an eye for normal egress of wire from said passageway, a Web attached to the other end of said body, and a bearing for mounting said needle on a baler attached to said web.

2. A needle for a baler using wire binding material, comprising: an elongated, arcuate needle body having a U-shaped cross section, the legs of said U-shaped cross section forming the sides of a wire passageway located between said legs and extending longitudinally of said arcuate needle body, a wire eye at one end of said wire passageway, means on said needle body at the other end of said wire passageway for attaching said needle body to the base pipe of a baler, a plurality of wire retainer elements in said wire passageway adjacent said wire eye, each said wire retainer element comprising a projection extending from one side of said wire passageway towards the other side of said wire passageway, each said projection extending past the centerline of said passageway and terminating short of said other side of said passageway at a point spaced from said other side.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,389,386 8/1921 Seymour 24 1,665,063 4/1928 Magrath 242*157 2,202,937 6/ 1940 Wolfe 242-157 2,733,652 2/1956 Dwyer 100-4 3,054,277 9/1962 Broschard 242--l57 X IRVING BUNEVICH, Primary Examiner.

LOUIS O. MAASSEL, Examiner. 

2. A NEEDLE FOR A BALER USING WIRE BINDING MATERIAL, COMPRISING: AN ELONGATED, ARCUATE NEEDLE BODY HAVING A U-SHAPED CROSS SECTION, THE LEGS OF SAID U-SHAPED CROSS SECTION FORMING THE SIDES OF A WIRE PASSAGEWAY LOCATED BETWEEN SAID LEGS AND EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY OF SAID ARCUATE NEEDDLE BODY, A WIRE EYE AT ONE END OF SAID WIRE PASSAGEWAY, MEANS ON SAID NEEDLE BODY AT THE OTHER END OF SAID WIRE PASSAGEWAY FOR ATTACHING SAID NEEDLE BODY TO THE BASE PIPE OF A BALER, A PLURALITY OF WIRE RETAINER ELEMENTS IN SAID WIRE PASSAGEWAY ADJACENT SAID WIRE EYE, EACH SAID WIRE RETAINER ELEMENT COMPRISING A PROJECTION EXTENDING FROM ONE SIDE OF SAID WIRE PASSAGEWAY TOWARDS THE OTHER SIDE OF SAID WIRE PASSAGEWAY, EACH SAID PROJECTING EXTENDING PAST THE CENTERLINE OF SAID PASSAGEWAY AND TERMINATING SHORT OF SAID OTHER SIDE OF SAID PASSAGEWAY AT A POINT SPACED FROM SAID OTHER SIDE. 